Youth Is Fierce They Say
Dear Youth,
I’ve got a special message for you.
Do not measure your height down from your head to the ground. Measure your height up from below your chin to the vast cosmos. That way,
You are the tallest person in the world and yet still normal.
Let me tell you about two kids.
Kid A is a straight A student who lives in the township of Stretford. She has three friends who both have charming personality. She loves meditating when she isn’t playing golf at the neighbor park. Her favorite TV show is Dr. Phil. Her desired sport is any physical sport available in her community she can do and also benefit from. She has a bit of resentment in herself but comprehends that life is what it is. She’s a member of the local community aerobics group, and as a proactive youth she sees a need to change some of the things she does in her life which she sees might impact greatly on her bright future.
Kid B goes to an unfounded school with teachers who’d rather be imperceptible to teach kids who really don’t care. She lives with her good-for-nothing parents, doesn’t really get along with her two siblings, and distributes dope sometimes. Temper is often her mate.
If you were one of these kids which one would you choose to be? Would you choose to be kid A, whom despite her personal problems seeks to view things positively? Or would you rather be kid B and instead of doing something about the negativity in your life you carry on with it anyway? What if I were to tell you now that these kids are actually one kid, and that is kid C? Please, allow me to introduce you to kid C.
Kid C is a straight A student who lives with her good-for-nothing parents in the township of Stretford. She doesn’t really get along with her two siblings. She has three friends who both have charming personality. She goes to an unfounded school with teachers who’d rather be imperceptible to teach kids who really don’t care, and as a result she distributes dope sometimes. She loves meditating when she isn’t playing golf at the neighbor park. Temper is often her mate, but as a proactive youth she sees a need to change some of the things she does in her life which she sees might impact greatly on her bright future. She has a bit of resentment in herself but comprehends that life is what it is. Her favorite TV show is Dr. Phil. She’s a member of the local community aerobics group. Her desired sport is any physical sport available in her community she can do and also benefit from.
Thus Kid C is not this picture perfect kid from mars your parents probably want you be. A good kid is often the one dented with imperfection. A good kid is often the one who is caught up between doing what is right and doing what is wrong and then seeks to do what is right. Kid C is still a good person! Why can we say that? She makes mistakes, yes. She’s aware of her mistakes, yes. She can distinguish right from wrong, hence no way can you and I conclude that she’s already a bad kid. Her slip-ups and weaknesses do not make her a bad kid just yet. Anything flawed has a splotch somewhere on it? Even an ugliest roof with a few flawed tiles can abide for many years than a beautiful roof with all its tiles flawless. That’s how imperfection works. It tints us on the outside but can’t confiscate our goodness unless we let it to. We know what’s right. We want what’s right. We can do what’s right, yet customarily we all fall short every time. It’s the ultimate decision you make with your life that is determinative of the person you shall become.
Kid C’s path is a path similar to paths taken by good leaders before they became good leaders. It often takes an imperfect person to wrong people, wrong himself and make mistakes before he can fix his ways, make things right and then live to do the right thing. What makes good people different any from bad ones is that they repent.
If you’re a good person you’ll repent from your past mistakes before repenting from self-sabotage because of your past mistakes. You have a choice at the cross roads. Either you measure your height down from your head to the ground and dig up your our own sepulture, or you measure it up from below your chin to the vast cosmos and live as a good person.
If you’re currently facing a situation similar to that of kid C, know that you’re still advantageous to take a stop if not a u-turn. The intent is not to neglect the reality that you’re imperfect. The intent is to progress not on the wrong path with your eyes wide open. No intended mistakes. It’s easy picking sides when there is a wrong and a right side.
Four roads
One right path
Three wrong paths = Three mistakes = Three U-turns
YOU have a CHOICE!
Expect to mess up, but expect to also fix your mess. That makes you a good person. You can’t be judged for fixing your mess. You can’t be judged for messing up inadvertently. But check, you surely can be judged for messing up intentionally.
Whether kid C decides to take that first u-turn in her first wrong path and return to the intersection to find the right path, that decision will determine whether she’s a good person or not. Remember, she’s no longer at the crossroads, but she still has a choice. You have a choice to decide who you are even if you’re already in the wrong path.
'Now who am I? Am I this flawless human being who seems to be programmed like I have no choice in life and a right to accountability? Or am I this imperfect person who seems to forget that I’m not perfect? For most of my life, yes, me Ah-Liang, I’ve been caught up between wanting to be perfect and knowing so well that I’m not perfect. But because I was taught, mistakes are wrong, I thought perfect was the only way to go. I thought life was all about being right and that being wrong was a humiliation. I loathed being wrong. I loathed failing so much so when I did fail at some aspects of my life, I got the disease of the perfect people – Depression. Well, I named it that the moment I realized that a good person isn’t somebody who hasn’t done any mistakes in his life and/or has no dent of imperfection in him. A good person is somebody who understands his mistakes and embraces them as long as they’re not intentional. And just like kid C, a good person always sees a need to make positive changes in his life wherever and whenever necessary. That’s the kind of a good person I know I’ve become. That’s the kind of a ‘fierce’ person I am – hoping for the best, prepared for the worst and unsurprised by anything in between. My unintentional mistakes have made me who I am. The only choice I have regarding them is not to pretend that I’m flawless, but is to fiercely learn from them and to fiercely strive to not repeat the same mistakes again. Youth is fierce they say. Yes I’m fierce, but in that way. Are you that fierce?'
Take the fierce step and decide now: Who Am I? Until next month, be young and wize.
Ah-Liang T E